Love Undercover
by Kayla2
Summary: This story follows John and Joss's lives after An Overdue Conversation. It's helpful to read that one first (if you want). Starts off light and gets slightly more intense.
1. Chapter 1

Hi all, I'm back. I can't say goodbye to John and Joss. So, this builds on my previous story where Joss moves to Chicago and John follows her. I'm not completely sure where I'm going with this, but I have an idea. So, stick with me.

**Love Undercover**

**Chapter 1- Meeting Again For the First Time**

John and Joss sat quietly intertwined on her giant sofa. Her back rested against John's chest and their fingers were interlinked. Joss thought that if she wasn't scheduled for work the next day, she could stay in the same spot forever. And only part of it was John. Her sofa was truly amazing. After being in Chicago for all of three days of seeing multiple commercials featuring the three singing Smithe brothers, she wondered if Finch had purchased it from Walter E. Smithe or whether he'd found it in an even higher end boutique furniture store. She loved that for the first time in months, she didn't have to worry about HR or hers and Taylor's safety or compromising John in any way. Instead, she could concern herself with such inconsequential things as her new sofa.

"What are you thinking about?"

John's voice was soft but Joss could feel his chest vibrate as he spoke. The sensation made her smile.

"The sofa." Joss couldn't help laughing as soon as the truth crossed her lips.

"Ouch." John moved her away from his chest. "Are you already bored with me, Detective?" He placed his hands over his heart. "I'm wounded. Maybe you miss the suits. I remember how you used to check me out."

"Is that right?" She chuckled and flopped her back against his chest once more. "What I remember is your eyes popping out of your head when I wore a certain dress to the safe house." John smiled even though he knew Joss couldn't see the look on his face. "Did you happen to bring that dress with you to Chicago?"

John looked down at their hands. He marveled at how small Joss's hands were compared to his. He smiled as he thought about how her small frame might fool someone into thinking she wasn't absolutely fierce. Soon, her voice pulled him from his thoughts.

"You know I couldn't bring my clothes with me for safety's sake. Lucky for you, I think Finch knows what you like. " She dropped her voice to a low purr. "You'll see what my wardrobe contains when you finally take me on that date." Though they had been in Chicago together for five days, the weather had kept them inside for the entire time…not that either one of them were complaining.

"About that. We need to talk about where we go from here."

Joss's body stiffened and she immediately pulled herself away from John's embrace. "Have you changed your mind about coming here? About us?" She took a deep breath and reminded herself that she should give John a chance to speak. But before she could follow her own advice, she added, "Because if you did it's o.k."

John smiled at her. He wondered when she would get that only death would separate them…and after everything that had happened, he wasn't completely sure that death would fully keep them apart. "Jocelyn, you are stuck with me." He kissed various points on her face between each word. "Got it?"

"Got it." She smiled. "So, tell me what we need to talk about."

He pushed a strand of her hair that had fallen onto her face to its rightful place behind her ear. "Well Joss, you are very good at many things…" He leaned in as if he planned to kiss her but touched his nose to hers instead. "But lying isn't one of them."

She crinkled her nose at his statement. "That's a good thing, right?"

"It is, except you're going to make friends here. I don't want you to have to lie about how we met. You can't tell people I was a drunken bum that was brought into your precinct." John dropped his gaze. "I don't want you to."

She quickly turned her body to face him so that he could see her frowned expression. Then for extra emphasis she used her hand to force him to make eye contact. "Listen to me. You were so much more than that even then, got it?"

"Got it." His lips brushed hers softly before he pulled her back against his chest. "Still, I want to give us a better story to tell. In fact, what I want to give you is the chance for your soon-to-be friends to see how we meet from the beginning."

Joss ran what John was saying through her head. Suddenly, she began to laugh.

"What's so funny, Joss?"

She turned to look back at him. "So, you plan to stage it to look like we're meeting for the first time AND you expect people to believe that we've never met? I'm a cop, not an actress. People are going to know we've met, the first time they see our eyes meet."

John arched an eyebrow, which he punctuated with a smirk. "Why Joss, are you saying people will know you find me completely irresistible?"

"I was talking about the way you look at me." She shoved his chest causing John to fall deeper into the plush sofa. He didn't mind; the sofa felt like a cloud. He looped his arm around her shoulder, causing her to lie against his chest once more.

"So, tell me more about this genius plan of yours." Joss snuggled against his chest. She smiled as she felt him kiss the top of her head.

"I can't you're a cop not an actress. You'll be more believable if the element of surprise is there."

She released a deep sigh. "Can you at least tell me when?"

John's back stiffened. This was the moment he dreaded. He knew she was going to hate what he had to tell her.

She could always read him. At least, she could read him better than most could. "John, what's wrong?" Pulling her knee beneath her, she turned to face him.

He lifted his hand and pushed her hair behind her ear once more. Then he leaned in and kissed her gently. "I have to go away for awhile."

"Away? Where? Back to New York? For how long?"

A faint smile crossed his lips as his hand continued to linger in her hair. "I'm going on a case, Joss. That's all I'm going to tell you because I don't want to compromise you or your new position by sharing information like we used to."

Joss sat up a little straighter. She turned to face him, hoping that there would be some clue as to what he was talking about. "Compromise me? What are you talking about?"

"I don't want anyone tracing what I do back to you. It can't be like it was in New York. I won't come that close to losing you, again." He stroked her cheek while his eyes burrowed straight through hers to her soul. His intense gaze accompanied by his tensed jaw made it very clear to Joss that his decision was nonnegotiable.

"And I suppose I don't get a say in this?" Joss bristled.

"No." Immediately, John's mind flashed to Joss's crusade against HR that almost cost her life. He also thought about the way she decided to move to Chicago without talking to him. It made him bristle a bit. "_You_ of all people should understand, Joss."

She knew exactly to what he was alluding and it killed her argument. She flopped dramatically against the sofa. "When do you leave?"

"Tonight."

Joss let loose an audible sigh. "How long will you be gone?"

"I don't know. But when I get back, I'm back. I won't be leaving again unless Finch absolutely needs me." He touched his hand to her cheek, loving the way it fit perfectly in his hand. "And when we meet again, get ready to fall in love with a whole new man."

Anxious to avoid an argument on John's last day with her for a while, she refrained from articulating the thought that was screaming aloud in her mind: "What if I don't want a whole new man?"

**Eight Weeks Later**

Joss sat at her chair on the 5th floor of the Dirksen Federal Building, which was in the heart of Chicago's downtown area, known affectionately as "the loop." Somehow, she'd landed an office with a window that overlooked the courtyard below. Part of her hoped that she'd see a familiar figure in the black suit and trench coat stalking through the square, but so far she'd seen no trace of John. Not actually, that is. The truth was she had seen John in a number of people that turned out to be complete strangers.

"Do you really think you have time to be staring out of your window mooning over some lost love? Besides you're being pretty dramatic, don't cha think?"

"_You_ can't be serious. That's a little pot versus kettle isn't, it?" Joss shook her head before releasing the smile she'd been holding ever since the woman began speaking. This woman, Lena Johnson, was an attractive African-American attorney, who was about 50, but looked 30 and had deemed herself Joss's new best friend. Although Lena was no more than ten years older than Joss, she possessed more wit and wisdom than a woman of eighty.

"Not from where I'm standing. When I walked in here, I thought I walked onto the set of General Hospital with all of the brooding by the windowsill."

"Whatever Lena." Joss rolled her eyes in mock disgust. Lena was one of her wonderful new coworkers. She expected to hate practicing law; she had the first time she gave it a try. But this was different. She was making a difference here. They were taking bad men (and women) off of the streets.

It also helped that her new coworkers had incredible senses of humor and that down-to-earth approachability that seemed very common in her new hometown. Yes, she still missed John and Taylor and the rest of the men in her life, but these people made her feel at home, despite the fact that she was a stranger.

Lena walked into her office and plopped in a chair opposite Joss's desk. "We have got to find you a man so you can stop mooning over…"

"Please don't say his name."

"Yes, please don't say his name." Natalie, the office's pretty, redhead paralegal who was no more than 25, dramatically threw her hands in the air. Though the women were very different, Natalie felt completely at ease with Joss and Lena. She was never shy about giving her opinion, especially when he came to the things Joss could do to rejuvenate her love life.

"Joss," Natalie stretched out the s sound in her name, "that ship has sailed. It's time for you to move on. Go out and get your groove on. Saddle up, girl."

Joss felt the heat rise to her face. She wondered what Lena and Natalie would say the first time they saw John. Of course, at this point, she wondered if they would ever meet John. After six weeks, she'd heard from him exactly four times, one of which was Valentine's Day, when she could have sworn she heard the voices of angry men, rapidly speaking Spanish in the background. It had already been two weeks since she'd last heard from him. Joss sighed, "I'll meet someone when the time is right."

"The time is always right." Natalie retorted. "Half of the guys in this office would be willing to show you a good time if you only gave them a chance…especially, Roger."

Lena curled her lip up toward the left side of her face as she eyed Natalie suspiciously. "Sweetie, no body is thinking about Roger, but you. And he's not thinking about you. He's got his eyes on Gary."

"Shut up." Natalie snapped a Lena before breaking into a laugh. "Let's go to lunch."

Soon all three ladies were laughing until their bellies hurt. Joss loved every single second of it. While what she'd come to have with these women was different than what she had with Fusco or Finch or especially John, it still made her feel good to be connected to _something_.

The women decided to walk around the corner to the Exchequer Pub, which served some of the pizza Joss had ever had. Chicago was still freezing…even in early March. She pulled her beautiful new coat, which she found in her closet courtesy of Finch, closer to her body. They were nearing a busy crosswalk when she heard Natalie yell.

"Oh my gosh! That guy is so busy texting that he's walking into the street!"

Joss looked up just in to see a man, in grey wool coat and a newsboy cap walking blindly toward the intersection after the light had already turned red. At the same time, a cab was picking up speed less than a block away. All of Joss's training as a cop along with a double dose of adrenaline kicked in and she began running at full speed directly toward the man. While she ran, she screamed, "Sir, sir…" She could hear Lena and Natalie screaming the same in the distance.

As she ran, she noticed that neither the man nor the cab was coming to a stop. By the time she reached the man, she pulled him backward with enough force to send both of them flying to ground near the curb with the man landing on top of her. As the man lay sprawled across her body, she realized that he was much taller than she'd originally thought. The impact of hitting the ground knocked the cap off of his head and Joss noticed that his hair wasn't long, but wasn't exactly short. And finally, as the man rolled off of her she felt the slight scrape of his facial hair brush her cheek. Then, as she looked at him, behind the wire frame glasses, she saw the clear blue eyes she'd recognize anywhere. And just above a whisper, his name escaped her lips.

"John?"


	2. Chapter 2

Hi all, first and foremost, thank you for the wonderful reviews and comments I've received regarding this story. The response has been overwhelming and I'm so grateful.

Next, I have a general idea of where I'm going with this story, but for me some of the fun has been in the minutia…especially because POI didn't always focus on Joss's life outside of the team. If it feels like too much, please let me know. This chapter is kind of fun…I can't promise they will all be.

**Chapter 2 – When Will I See You Again?**

"John?" Joss's voice was barely above a whisper. There's no way that her near death experience could have been a part of his "master" first meeting plan. Could it?

"Yes." John said, his voice equally soft. "And I have to say you cut my rescue pretty close."

John moved to stand on his feet, but was knocked back on to his elbows by the sound of Joss yelling at him.

"Have you lost your mind? You could have been killed!" Joss took a deep breath. If she hadn't, she might jump on top of John and strangled him.

"I'm sorry." John stood to his feet and extended a hand in her direction. He did his best to convey with his eyes that he was sorry for more than just this plan that she pretty obviously hated, but also for the long absence that had kept him away from her. His apology was not accepted.

Joss was furious. This idiotic plan of John's could have gotten them both killed. Not to mention that seeing him after he'd been gone nearly two months, forced her to fight to keep the tears at bay. She reluctantly took John's hand. She was not at all prepared for him to yank her so quickly to her feet that she again wound up pressed against his body.

In stunned silence, Joss remained there for a second or two. At the very loud clearing of Lena's throat, she took a step back from John. The honk of a car reminded Joss that she and John were still in the street, albeit very near the curb.

"Joss," Lena said firmly as she gently pushed Joss from the curb to the corner. "I'd feel much better if you and Mr. tall, dark and handsome made your way back to the sidewalk with the rest of us."

Natalie snickered. "I'd risk getting hit by a car for some of that."

John smiled. He liked Joss's friends already. Joss, on the other hand wasn't thrilled with them at the moment. She cut her eyes, first at Natalie and then at Lena. These two were going to make it hard for her to stay angry with John. And he wasn't helping things by standing there looking absolutely adorable. Her anger was renewed when she saw the smudges of dirt on her a beautiful new coat.

An awkward silence fell over the four. John broke it.

"Hi, I'm John Reagan."

He extended his hand toward Joss for her to shake it. She did not. However, Lena and Natalie took turns grasping it quickly enough to spare him any embarrassment.

John directed his attention to Joss once more. "And you are?"

Joss had no intention to make things easy on John, not after that stunt. "Late for lunch." Her voice was razor sharp.

"Her name is Joss…Joss Taylor " Natalie offered up quickly and received a glare from Joss. Are you single?"

John laughed out loud. "I am. Is Joss…Joss Taylor?"

Now, it was Lena's turn to volunteer information, "She is-"

"Not interested," Joss cut her off. "At least, I'm not interested in a man who is willing to risk his life to send a text message."

Joss turned and began to walk away from John while hundreds of questions ran through her mind. The recue was obviously a set up. So, how long had John been in town? It was long enough that he had become familiar with her work schedule. Why hadn't he contacted her when he returned from wherever he'd been? And just where had he been? She wasn't going to go along with this stupid plan until she got answers.

She could hear her friends apologizing to John for her behavior and she didn't care. As she quickened her pace, she knew that she'd have to spend her entire lunch hour explaining her seeming overreaction to John to both Nat and Lena, but she didn't care. The truth of the matter was that she was fairly certain that she wasn't actress enough to make nice with John in front of her friends.

Joss reached the door of the Exchequer Pub before her friends. She was immediately comforted by the dimly lit interior and the interior that had become familiar to her over the last couple of months. She readied herself for the sounds of Lena's and Natalie's voices telling her what an idiot she was for letting John go. It was John's voice that surprised her instead.

"If I didn't know better, Joss, I'd think you weren't interested." John wore the smile of the Cheshire cat. Joss wanted to knock it off of his face. However, Lena and Natalie were standing a few feet away at the bar area with both pairs of eyes pinned on them.

She spoke to him through clinched teeth. "At the moment, I'd like to wring your neck for a variety of reasons."

"I'm happy to let you have your way with me." He paused to allow her smile. He knew it would happen after that line…and it did. "But I think it's only appropriate that it happen behind closed doors."

Joss laughed out loud, even though it made hate herself a little. John responded by smiling at her. He loved that she'd been able to settle into what seemed like a good life in Chicago. Lena and Natalie soon joined them.

"So handsome, what did you say to her that finally got her to smile?" Lena asked. Joss loved Lena, but she was as nosy as could be.

"Nothing much." John winked at Joss. "But I was about to remind her that an old Chinese proverb says that once you save a life you are responsible for it."

Joss smiled. "Unfortunately, Mr. Reagan, that's not really a Chinese proverb, it's a line from Star Wars."

John laughed out loud exposing a few laugh lines that Joss only got to see during the best of their times together before. There was something about him that seemed so relaxed now. She wondered what had changed with him.

"I'm going to love finding out how you know that. Which leads me to the reason I took the lovely Lena up on her off to join you for a few minutes, even though I can't stay for lunch." He directed his attention toward Joss. "I'd like to take you to dinner to say thank you for saving my life."

"She'd love to." Natalie answered before Joss could. "How about Friday night?"

Lena shook her head. "Un, un. How about tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow it is." John spoke quickly, before Joss could protest. "Now I should be going. I have a department meeting to attend."

"A department meeting?" Joss raised an eyebrow.

"Oh yeah, John is a professor of linguistics at the University of Chicago." Natalie patted his arm. "We found that out while you were having your tantrum."

Joss rolled her eyes at both her friends as she silently wondered when they'd left her side and become TeamJohn. She was still annoyed…and her coat still had a smudge. "And just what kind of text would be so important that a linguistics professor would be willing to risk injury while sending it?"

John began to get up from the table. He leaned very close to Joss's ear. With a husky voice, he said, "I'll tell you tomorrow."

John turned to leave and Joss placed her hand on his arm to stop him. They both felt the electricity between them immediately. Now it was Joss's voice that became husky. "Don't you need my number?" There was no point in going this far and blowing it.

Lena, not John responded, "Oh honey, Natalie and I took care of that already."

**The next evening.**

"You can't wear that. It's not cute enough." Natalie gave Joss the once over in her very sensible brown dress and high boots.

"Natalie!" Joss shook her head. She could not believe what regularly came out of her friend's mouth.

"She's right." Lena said in quick agreement. "Where's your closet?"

Joss fought back a grin. She knew she was about to become the envy of her girlfriends. Without a word, she walked to the rear of her bedroom and opened the door that led to an endless walk-in closet. Lena and Natalie released audible gasps as they took hesitant steps, slowed by amazement toward the closet.

Lena and Natalie began searching through Joss's closet in what reminded Joss of a slow-motion sequence from a movie. They oohed and ahhed and pulled out dresses and twirled in them. Soon, she heard Lena exclaim, "Oh my gosh, girl. You have this and you're wearing that?"

"Seriously Joss, this dress is so perfect." Natalie was the first to emerge from the closet holding the dress in front of her.

Honestly, Joss hadn't seen a quarter of the gorgeous dresses Finch had layered in the closet. Sure, she would visit the front of the closet to pick through the beautiful suits and jackets and coats and shoes, so many shoes, that she would wear to work. But, she'd only made it to the very front of the place where the dresses were. Even from the front of the dresses, she could see a multitude colors and an occasional shimmer. And of course, there was plenty of elegant black. But Joss found that each attempt to delve into the full expanse of the closet was overwhelming.

So, when Natalie held against her, this most beautiful, black cocktail dress that looked like bands of fabric willed together by a master seamstress or a genie, Joss did her best to keep her draw from dropping. She wanted to reach out and touch the translucent shoulders and sleeves, just to feel the weight of the fabric, but it wouldn't make sense. Her will power shriveled when Joss got close enough to see the Versace label inside of the dress; her breath hitched a little.

"Girl, why are you acting like you're seeing this dress for the first time?"

_Think fast, Joss, _ her mind screamed. She released a sigh before giving the best explanation she could. "It's just that this dress is for special occasions and John didn't mention where he was taking me."

"No worries. He told us. Go change." Natalie shoved her in the bathroom. She continued talking through the door. "So Joss, spill. Where did you get all of these beautiful clothes?"

Good question. "My ex—" Joss started to reference Finch as her ex-employer, but that would simply raise more questions. Lucky for her, she didn't have to finish.

Lena interrupted. "Never mind, we aren't trying to hear about that ex of yours tonight. In fifteen minutes, Mr. tall, dark, beautiful and gainfully employed is going to pick you up. You're going to be ready for him. And I don't just mean physically, I mean mentally. No more baggage. And do you know, why?"

"Why?" Joss called through the door.

"Because I have worked downtown for 15 years and I've never had a man that looked or acted like that fall on me. So, you are going to go out and have a good time, not just for you but for all of the women in the city of Chicago."

Joss burst out laughing before emerging from the bathroom.

"Wow." The women said at the same time. "You look amazing."

Joss almost started to cry. She hadn't had girl time like this since she and her sister were kids. She'd missed this. The closest she'd come to this before she left New York was when she and Zoe and Shaw went undercover at Blur. That was an assignment. These were her friends.

Natalie smacked her hands on her hips. "Get it together, sister. We still need to do your hair and makeup." All three women laughed.

Fourteen and a half minutes later, Joss's hair hung in soft curls around her shoulders. Her big, brown eyes were dressed in a hint of color. And her feet stood on four and ½ inch stiletto heels.

The doorbell rang. Lena insisted that Natalie and Joss head to the bedroom so that Joss could make an entrance. They giggled as they heard Lena fawn all over John until they finally heard Lena call Joss's name.

John wasn't ready to see Joss. He thought he was, but when he saw her, his heart stopped. Time stopped. He'd always thought she was beautiful, but there was something different about her tonight. She was still Joss, but she was more: she was his future. From behind his back, John pulled three long stemmed roses: two yellow and one red.

John handed each of the yellow roses to Joss's friends. He said softly, "I don't think I could have done this without either of you." He stepped forward to hand the red rose to Joss. The plan was to tell her she was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen, but his voice betrayed him. He was only able to nod in response to her soft thank you.

Joss fared no better. It was never lost on her, or any other woman, what an attractive man John was. But as he stood before her in a tux, he looked so distinguished…particularly with his glasses and the light beard. They just stood there for a minute staring at each other.

Lena cleared her throat. "You two should get going."

John and Joss were on their way out of the door about to begin their first date when Lena caught John by the arm. She whispered quietly and quickly, "Look John, tread carefully with Joss. She's had a hard time getting over an ex."

The guilt rose to John's throat. He knew Joss was hurt by his absence but he planned to make it up to her. He was glad she had made friends who cared so much for her. "I promise."

"And if she even mentions the name Ian Murphy, you change the subject. She will tell you how wonderful he is, but he abandoned her in Chicago. As far as I'm concerned, it's a good thing she's done with him."

John suddenly had the urge to hit something or someone…namely Ian Murphy. A million thoughts ran through his mind as he wondered if Ian had followed Joss to Chicago. It wouldn't make sense to let Lena read his expression. So, John leaned down and kissed Lena's cheek. "Don't worried Lena, I plan to make Joss forget she ever heard that name."

(To see the dress, Google: Versace long sleeve cocktail dress. It's the second dress.)


End file.
